Conveyer



J. T. COWLEY.

CONVEYER.

APPUCATION nuao 0:014. 1918.

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

2 sums-sneer 1.

' 'l o a o elm v }0 r Zeg dtitornea is J. T. COWLEY.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-14I 191a.

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

nvenioz:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. COWLEY, 0F MINOT. MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LAMSON' COMIPANY,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

Application filed December 14, 1918'. Serial No. 266,712.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES T. COWLEY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Minot, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Conveyers,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to conveyers and especially to that type ofconveyer comprising tracks, ways or chutes along which the load to beconveyed is propelled by gravity, momentum or the action of an impressedforce.

Heretofore the art has comprised such structures as smooth slides orchutes, various arrangements of propelled or traveling surfaces, andtracks or ways made up of rollers having an upper surface exposed toreceive a load resting and traveling upon them. For use as a gravityconveyer in which the energy of propulsion is the weight of the thingpropelled, slightly inclined tracks made up of rollers have advantages;for instance those due to the tendency of rollers to direct the travelof the thing resting upon them along the central axis when theway ortrack is provided with such rollers rotating on axes at right angles tothe desired direction of progress. Such gravity conveyers areparticularly useful for moving divers objects from place to place incommercial and industrial establishments. A system of such conveyers maycomprise means for receiving at (or for lifting to) a high point thethings to be conveyed, and roller tracks or ways thence proceeding tothe places of delivery at a gradual incline. But exigencies of space andof direction of travel for the things to be conveyed may compel more orless vertical travel of the object, and it is often necessary to providefor the delivery of objects alternatively in different directions or atdifferent levels. Heretofore, in order to absorb without lateral proress the energy of position of an object sent rom a relatively highpoint in such a system, it has been customary to install spiral ways ortracks adapted to receive the thing to be conveyed at the top and todeliver it on a tangent continuation of the spiral at the bottom.

being separated at points 360 apart by only suflicient head room for theobject to be conveyed. These limitations of slope and head room haveprevented such spirals, otherwise well adapted for use as distributingcenters for such systems, from being used for such purpose, since it hasbeen believed to be impracticable to provide switches capable ofdelivering from or to such a spiral in different directions and atdifferent levels objects desired to be entered upon or removed from thespiral and sent along different paths having their origin at points onthe spiral.

The devices of the prior art for switching loads from or to the branchtracks or ways or such conveyers, whatever their construction, are notsatisfactory in many usual and desired situations. So far as I am aware,prior entering or leaving switches have all necessitated providing avertical displacementor break in the track or ,way wide enough for theobject to pass through. There is not head room in such a spiral as thatabove mentioned, for instance, for a vertically displaceable section ofthe main track, and lateral movement of a section is mechanicallyimpracticable. In either case, the main track would be madediscontinuous while the switch is in use. In many situations, such aswhen much change in the level of the way or track at the switch isundesirable, these disadvantages also apply to other known forms ofswitch mechanism for straight conveyers. I am not aware of any priormeans for efficiently changing the direction of the load applicable to acontinuous way or conveyer.

rincipal objects of the present invention are to provide in connectionwith a chute, way or conveyer means adapted to direct the load carriedwhen desired in a changed direction from that of the chute, way orconveyer; to provide for switching the load from or to progress around acurve or from or to a straight section of such a conveyer by adjustmentthrough a small distance only of cooperating'main and branch sections oftrack and preferably without interrupting the continuity of the part ofthe conveyor from or to which the loads are removed, or upon which theyare entered, at the switch. Other objects are to provide a system ofgravity conveyers having branches adapted to deliver or not to deliver,or to receive or not to receive loads at will at points in the progressdownward of a main track or way.

11 pursuit of these and other objects the invention provides a switchingmeans for branched conveyer tracks applicable in any situation andoperating upon principles utilizing the force propellingthe load todirect it from or to the main or branch track or way in such a way as toavoid more than a minimum motion of the movable or adjustablepart of theswitch mechanism, and preferably so as to avoidbreaking the continuityof the track or'way from or to which the load is to be switched. Y

I have therein illustrated the broader asverticalaxi's at a, may be madeup of sec I pects of the invention by reference to specific instances ofconstructions within the genus constituting the invention as set out inthe claims herein. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a diagram in plan i lustrating a type of spiral conveyertrack having two receiving or entrance branches and two delivering ordeparture branches;

Fig. 2 is a detail plan of a switch section adapted to constitute thejuncture of the spiral track and a receiving or a delivering branch; i

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the devices of Fig. 2 as arranged at adelivery branch;

ig. 4 is a section on the line 4.4 of

Fig 2; I

' ig. 5 is an elevation in the nature of a diagram illustratingcomponents of a system utilizing the devices herein described; and

Fi 6 is a view'similar to Fig. 3 illustratin t e parts in their idle,position.

eferring now to Fig. 1, a conveyer,'way

or trackvl, which may be a spiral about a tions such as illustrated'at10 in Fig. 2 and comprising preferably a number of like cylindricalrolls 11 running on antifriction bearings of an known or desired kind,as on spindles 13, w ich may be radial to concentrically curved sectionsof preferably metallic side rails 12, in bores in which the spindles 13are seated. The radius of curvature may be relatively short so thatabout six such segments as are illustrated in Fig. 2, for instance, maycomprise a complete spire of the spiral, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Theconstruction of the track 10 may vary with good engineering practice,this invention being more concerned with means for altering the travelof objects moving upon such a track than with details of construction. Ihave illustrated as an instance of good practice angle-iron verticals 15arranged within and without the track 10 uponwhich are suitably fastenedangle iron girts 16 upon which the side rails 12 may be installed atproper slope longitudinally and transversely to of the invention, whichis well adapted to use with sections of track or way of many differentkinds for entering or removing objects at an angle thereto or therefrom;

As shown in Fig. 1, the upper or lower reaches of the spiral track 1 maybe designed to receive the things to be conveyed either in the directionof curvature, as shown by the arrow a, or at a tangent, as illustratedby arrow 1). Loads received in direction a, may arrive on a straight orcurved continuation of the track sectionslO, or be first placed on atopmost section 10, and will by reason of the directive action of thesurfaces of the divergently placed rolls 11 follow the track 1throughout the spiral unless switched therefrom, finally being deliveredat the bottom, for instance in direction 6 on a straight continuation 3of the spiral 1. In order to provide for progress of objects down thespiral, it is necessary to provide that means for the entrance of otherobjects received from any other direction I), as from-a tan-' gent track2, shall'not break the continuity of the track 1. And in case deliveryis desired in any direction at any height intermediate of the top andbottom of the spiral, it is desirable to provide for deflecting totangent delivery tracks, as at 4, loads desired .to proceed in anydivergent direction d, without causing any break in the continuity ofthe track 1.

The sections 10 representative of the spiral 1 may be and desirably areprovided with guard rails 18 suitably supported above the rails 12 andadapted to prevent an object frombein thrown off the track 1 from anycause, suc as collision or centrifugal force.

Av preferred form of switch mechanism ap licable to such situations asthe entrance to ranch conveyer l is shown in Figs. 2,3, land 6. At onepair of the uprights 15, for instance, bearing brackets 20, 20, carryinga pivot shaft 21 may be fastened securely to support the shaft 21 in aposition crosswise of the track 1 and near the under sides of the rails12. A frame preferably comprising angle-iron side rails 22, 22,cross-ties, 23 riveted or otherwise fastened to rails 22, a guard rail19, and bearing-brackets 24 hung on shaft 21, and hereinafter referredto as switch-section A, is arranged so that there may be a limitedrelative vertical movement between track 1 and switch section A. In

slightly about the shaft 21 as a center in respect to a fixed section 10of track 1. When in its upper position, Fig. 3, the switch section A isin line with the branch conveyer 5 4, which may comprise angle-ironside-rails 25 and rolls 11 like those of the main track or way 1. Thepivoted frame 22, 23 at the end contiguous to .the branch track 4 isprovided with rolls, including rolls 26 like the rollsl1, similarlymounted on spindles crosswise of the frame. A is provided with otherrolls 30 defining, with the rolls 26, an upper surface adapted to swingwith the frame 22, 23 about the center 21. The rolls 30 may be arran edto rotate on axes parallel to the axes 0 rolls 26 and rolls 11 of thebranch 4, and the arrangement is such that a plurality of the rolls 30occupy the space between and adjacent to the rolls, rails and otherparts of the main conveyer 1. As shown, bearing brackets 31 for shortspindles 32 are fastened on the frame 22, 23 by any suitable fasteningso as to support the spindles 32 and short rolls 3Ov thereon in the freespaces between the rolls 11 and inside andoutside of the rails 12 at theintersection of conveyer J 1 and switch section A, there to rotate onaxes substantially parallel to a radius of tive, such of the rolls 30 asare within the lateral boundaries of the conveyer track 1, andpreferably all of the rolls 30, define a surface slightly elevated abovethe plane tangent to the upper surfaces of rolls 11 of conveyer 1, asshown in Fig. 3. When so positioned, a load traveling on conveyer 1 fromthe left of Figs. 2 and 3 will by its gravity or other propulsive forcebe transferred from support by rolls 11 to support by rolls 30 uponentering the segment occupied in'common by rolls 11 and'30, and therebybe lifted from operative contact with rolls 11. A load supported by oneor more rollers and moving in response to their rotation bei'ng stronglydirected at right angles to the axis of rotation of such a roll orrolls, the result is to cause a load traveling on conveyer 1, whentransferred to the rolls 30, to change its direction to that of thelongitudinal axis of switch section A i and branch conveyer 4, which inthe instance shown is a direction tangent to the spiral 1.

In order to secure a transfer of load from conveyer l to switch sectionA, the surface defined by rolls 30 may be lifted above the surfacedefined by rolls 11 through a sufficient distance only, which inpractice may be a fraction of an inch or more. sired, and with the sameeffect, the surface defined by rolls 11 may in some cases be depressedin relation to the surface defined by rolls 30. In order to prevent therolls 30 from receiving the load, the section A may 65 be moved downwardabout center 21 to The switch section section 10. When theswitch-section is ac- Or if de- 2 lower the rolls 30 through a similardistion by the mere flexure of an integral or attached end of a branchtrack such as 4, I prefer the arrangement illustrated in which thedirecting rolls 30 at and near the intersection of main track andswitch-section are .carried upon a pivoted frame such as the frame 22,23.

Such a switch section may be supported and o erated in any convenientmanner, but I pre er to provide, as on the supports 28 for thebranch-track 4 bearing-brackets 39 for a rock-shaft 40 and cams 41 uponwhich the rails 22 of-the frame 22, 23 may be strongly supported. Shaft40 may be worked by a handle 42 rigid therewith; a v

stop 43 for the handle may be provided to limit one position of thehandle, as at the position for an open switch shown in Fig. 6.

When the switch is installed at a sharp curve or spiral, it is desirableto maintain the continuity of the guard-rails 18 of the main track aswell as of the track proper,

and the device may include a gate 50 continuing the guard rail when theswitch section A is inactive, and means to open and close this gate whenthe switch is closed or opened respectively. On one of the uprights 15,for instance, carrying the brackets 20 and shaft 21, hearing brackets51, 51- may be arranged to support a vertical shaft 52 rigidly carryinga bracket 53 to which the gate 50 is fastened, preferably near a curvedportion 54 of the gate adapted substantially to maintain continuity withthe rail 18 as the gate is swung open on shaft 52 as a center.

Shaft 52 may be operated by any convenient connection to shaft 40, asshown by an arm 55 rigid with shaft 52 pivoted at 56 to a link 57 inturn pivoted at 58 to an arm 59 fast on shaft 40.

Gate 50 may be supported in closed position by a bracket 60 on one ofthe uprights 15, which may be part of any suitable connection 60, 61joining the uprights 15 of the main track to the supports 28 for thebranch track 4. v n

It will now be understood that the same arrangement of branch and mainconveyers and switch-sections having parts included in a common regionor area of juncture, one of the parts being movable in respect to theother so as to bring the supporting and directing surfaces (such as therolls 30) into and out of supporting contact with the movable load, maybe employed without change in other situations for instance, forentering 'upon the main conveyer 1 objects from a branch conveyer. Thebranch conveyersj are arranged to slope toward the main conveyer. Asshown in Fig. 5, such a system of conveyers may comprise a main track 1entering a spiral 10, a switch A controlling the entrance of a. branch-5 taking from the spiral; a branch 6 delivering to the spiral at lowerlevel at a switch section A a branch 7 at a still lower level receivingits loads from the spiral as determined by the switchsection A and acontinuation 8 of the spiral 10 adapted to receive loads traveling onthe A spiral which have been allowed to pass the entrance to thebranches 5 and 7 by inactive positions of the switch sections A, A theswitch sections A, A A being constructed and operating as abovedescribed.

It will be obvious that the principle involved is applicable Withoutchange to switching loads to or from chutes, tracks, conveyers, or waysof many different constructions, and I am not to be understood to limitmy invention to switching loads to or from a roller-track conveyer only.

What I claim is:

1. A conveyer having therein a track or way adapted to contact with,support and direct loads moving thereon by the action of a force on theload, in combination with abranch track or way, and means adapted tocontact with, support and difierently direct the load adjustable intoand out of position to coact with the load at a number of diiferentplaces distributed throughout the region of juncture of said main and abranch track or way to remove the load at said region from operativecontact with said main track or way and direct the load to or from themain track or way.

2. A conveyer comprising a main track or way and a branch track or way,each of said tracks or ways comprising transverse rollers adapted tocontact with, support and direct loads resting on any lateral part ofthe track for movement in respective different directions, said main andbranch tracks or ways each having rollers distributed throughout acommon region of juncture, and one of said tracks or ways being adaptedto be moved in respect to the other to bring into contact with the loadat the region of juncture supporting and directing parts of the main orof the branch track or way, respectively, lying in the direction oftravel of the load.

3. A conveyer having therein a track or way having rollers adapted tocontact with, support and direct throughout the width of the track loadsmoving thereon by the action of a force on the load, in combination withmeans coacting with a load contacting with any part of the width of thetrack for causing the force-acting on the load to separate the load andthe track or way fromoperative contact at a predetermined part of saidtrack or way, said means comprising rollers load in a new direction.

4. A conveyer having therein a laterally continuous track or way definedby a series of transverse rollers and having means for supporting theseries of rollers in permanent longitudinal continuity, and therebyadapted to support and direct loads traveling thereon by the action of aforce, such as gravity on the load, in combination with means forcausing the energy of a moving load traveling in any lateral position onthe track or way to lift the load from said track or way and to movesaid load in another direction.

5. A conveyer having therein atrack or way comprised of a succession ofrollers as wide as the track or way for supporting and directing loadsmoving thereon under gravity, in combination with means adapted to bepositioned between said rollers to coact with a load moving on saidtrack or way to receive, support and direct said load in anotherdirection. g

6. A conveyer having therein a track or way comprised of a succesion ofrollers as wide as the track for supporting and directing loads movingthereon under gravity, in combination with means coacting at theinterstices between said rollers with a load moving on said track or wayand having rollers rotating on axes inclined to those of the track, andadapted to receive, support and direct said load in another direction.

7. A conveyer having therein a track or way for directing and supportingloads moving by the action of an impressed force such as gravity, saidtrack or way defining a surface lying laterally across the direction ofthe force acting on the load, and longitudinally sloping in thedirection of motion, in combination with means for determining adifit'erent path. for the load comprising a switch-section defining asurface coinciding in plan with a part of said track or way, saidswitch-section having rollers effective throughout the width of saidlast mentioned surface for receiving, supporting, and directinglaterally of said track or way a load traveling thereon. 2 ,8. Aconveyer having therein in combination a main track or way, a lateralbranch track or way, and means at the region of juncture of said tracksor ways adapted to receive "and support a load traveling on one of saidtracks, said supporting means comprising rollers adapted to direct aload'bearing on any part of the width of the track or way along theother track or way. 9. A conveyer having therein alaterally continuoustrack'or way defined by a series of transverse rollers and having meansfor supporting the series of rollers in permanent longltudinalcontinuity in combination with movable switching means adapted to beposiwithdrawing said tioned respectively to receive a load travelmg onand in the direction of said continuous track or way, and out of contactwith 10. A conveyer having therein a continuous track or way fordirecting moving loads, in combination with a switch section for suchloads comprising a series of rollers together extendin the full width ofthe track or way and cc to rotate'about axes at an angle to thedirection of said continuous track, and means for interposing said rollsin the path of loads moving on said continuous track or way, whereby todirect the moving load in a different direction from that of saidcontinuous track or way. I

11. A gravity conveyer having a main track or way defined by a laterallycontinuous surface tangent to a continuous succession of rollers, and aswitch device for laterally deflecting a load traveling on said maintrack comprising a series of rollers mounted to rotate on axes at anangle to the axes of the rollers of said main track, and means forinterposing and withdrawing said inclined rollers from intersection witsaid main track or way.

12. A avity conveier having a curved section 0 a main trac or way, incombination with a switch-section having a plurality of rollers rotatingon axes substantially parallel to the same radius of the curve, andmeans for interpos' and for plurality of r0 ers from intersection with te path of a load traveling on said curved section, whereby respectivelyto direct a load on a tangent to said curve, and to leave said maintrack in an uninterrupted condition.

13. A system-of conveyers havin therein a spiral roller track or webranc roller tracks or ways, and means a apted to deflect a load from acontinuous part of said spiral to one of said branch tracks or, we scomprising rolls rotating on axes para el with a radius of the spiraladapted to be interposed between the rollers of the main track.

14. A system of conveyers having therein a spiral main track or way, abranch track or way, and means for delivering loads from said branch toa continuous part of said spiral, comprising rolls rotating on axesparallel with a radius of the spiral adapted to be interposed betweenthe rollers of the main track.

15. A system of conveyers having therein a spiral track or way, aplurality of branch.

tracks or ways, means for delivering loads from one or more of saidbranch tracks or ways to said spiral, and means for lifting away fromsupport by and deflecting loads from a continuous part of said spiral toone or more of said branch tracks or ways.

16. In a conveyor system havin main tracks comprised of conti ous r0 ersas wide as the track, a switc -section having thereon a plurality ofrollers adapted to be entered in and withdrawn from the path taken by aload traveling on said main track at'the spaces between contiguousrollers of said main track to receive a load therefrom.

17. A roller eonveyer having therein a main track having intersticestherein bea switch-section comprising a frame, rollers mounted on theframe and movable into said interstices adapted to receive, support anddirect a load laterally of said mam track, means for supporting saidframebeneath said main track, and means for moving said frame to movesaid rollers into and out of the path taken by loads traveling on saidmain track.

18. A conveiyier having therein a continuous main trac having a curvedportion, a guard rail for the curved ortion, a gate orming a part ofsaid guar rail, a switchsection adapted to be moved vertically into andout of operative relation to said main track, and means for laterallyopening and closing said gate in accordance with the position of saidswitch-section.

Signed b y me at Boston, Massachusetts, this ninth ay of December 1918.I

. JAMES i. COWLEY.

